Saturday was a glorious morning to be at Columbus’ Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market. The rising sun in a cerulean sky promised a fine start to the long weekend as a milling crowd greeted one another and shopped up and down the shaded corridor of vendors. There were jellies and salsas, squash and bird houses, flowering plants and hand-crafted jewelry, greens and baked breads. But I was on a mission. I was scouting for the fried pie lady I’d been hearing about, one who cooks fresh homemade fried apple pies on the spot.
Just when I’d begun to fret that she may not be present on the holiday weekend, I spotted her at the north end — Barbara Wells and her Sugar Shack goodies. Sure enough, there were the crescent-shaped apple pies, looking much like the ones our grandmothers used to make for us, still warm and sprinkled with confectioners’ sugar — a handheld bite of country heaven, if you will.
Wells’ grandchildren will no doubt have some of the same memories; there are seven of them. At Wells’ home in Steens, she makes everything from scratch. It’s much more time- and labor-intensive than the shortcuts, but it’s what she prefers.
“Why? Because it comes from the heart,” she says. “And I figure it tastes a whole lot better.”
Her fried pies aren’t limited to apple (she uses Granny Smiths). She also makes fried chocolate-filled pies, peach pies and sweet potato pies. To date at the market, she has been making apple and chocolate; she’ll add peach as soon as fresh fruit is available; it could be this weekend.
The pies made with homemade dough are generously filled and their edges crimped at home; Wells transports them to the market uncooked. On site, the pies spend about five minutes in a portable cooker. After a bit of cooling, they’re sprinkled with powdered sugar and ready for hungry customers, alongside her made-from-scratch cupcakes.
Making change
Wells’ journey to baking for the public came about in a unique way. It began with her granddaughter, Savannah, who was 5 at the time and learning about dollars, cents and parts of a whole.
“When she wanted to learn about how to make change, and things like how many quarters make a dollar, I had an idea,” Wells says. “I made some cookies and cupcakes and we set up a table in front of the dollar store in Caledonia and sold them.”
The venture was a success. The goods sold out and Savannah, who is now 14, was well on her way to an entrepreneurial understanding of nickels, dimes and dollars. What Wells didn’t expect was the encouragement she got from patrons to begin baking to order. She eventually did, establishing a storefront bakery near Columbus Air Force Base. It was open until she had to take an extended break to handle a health issue.
Today, from her home, Wells’ Sugar Shack offerings include custom-made cupcakes, breads, whole pies, cookies, candy and cakes for all occasions, from birthdays to weddings.
As a relatively new vendor at the farmers’ market, Wells is looking forward to the season and plans to add more items as the weeks progress.
“Oh, I enjoy it! Everybody is so sweet; there are good people here,” she says. “This is a great place.”
Editor’s note: For more about Barbara Wells’ Sugar Shack, visit facebook.com/barbarasgoodies or contact Wells at 662-570-8838.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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